But on the next play, David Wilson’s 17-yard touchdown run was nullified by a holding penalty before the drive ended with Josh Brown missing a 38-yard field goal. Instead of cutting the deficit to 7-3 at minimum, the Giants gave up 10 more points in the quarter en route to a 38-0 shutout.

WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE OFFENSEA lot of the problems in the Giants’ 0-2 start stemmed from losing the battle up front. Those issues became glaring in Week 3 as the Panthers sacked Eli Manning six times in the first half alone (seven total), leading to their third loss to begin the season. The offense managed just 18 total yards in the first half – largely due to the yards lost on the sacks -- while the running game was nonexistent for the third week in a row. Any yards came when the game was already out of reach.

WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE DEFENSELike the first three weeks, the defense kept the game from spiraling out of control early on. Unlike their 2012 meeting with the Panthers, though, quarterback Cam Newton hurt the Giants with his legs before opening it up and throwing three touchdown passes. Cornerback Aaron Ross, playing in place of injured Corey Webster, tried to spark the team with an interception and two big pass breakups. But the turnover led to zero points as the lopsided game went downhill from there.

WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT SPECIAL TEAMSYou could tell it wasn’t going to be the Giants’ day when kicker Josh Brown missed a 38-yard field goal (wide left) early in the second quarter when the game was still in reach. The Giants did force two turnovers on Sunday, one of which came on special teams. On punt coverage, tight end Larry Donnell recovered a fumble that deflected off Richie Brockel, but the Giants went three-and-out on the ensuing possession.

ROOKIE WATCHJustin Pugh made his third start in three games at right tackle. Meanwhile, QB Ryan Nassib, RB Michael Cox, and DT Johnathan Hankins were on the inactive list and did not dress.